Last month, prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would improve the approval process for the construction of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, with the guidelines on electric vehicle charging bays (GPP EVCB) set to aid that.
The 74-page document, released by the federal department of town and country planning (JPBD), is presently available for viewing on PlanMalaysia’s myTOWN.net portal. It is intended to provide state and local authorities as well as stakeholders a set of parameters to plan, design and construct EVCBs.
The GPP EVCB outlines the planning and design requirements for EVCBs in both existing and new buildings and developments, as well as fire safety requirements and local government procedures that need to be adhered to. Some elements of the GPP EVCB were highlighted by the department in its short presentation of it at the International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM) in KLCC earlier today.
Locations where EVCBs can be installed include strata and non-strata housing, industrial and commercial areas as well as institutions, petrol stations and rest and service (R&R) areas. They can be placed outside and inside buildings, as well as on the rooftop level.
For AC charging bays (up to 22kW rating), there are no placement limitations in multi-storey applications, and these can be built at all indoor levels where parking is situated. For DC chargers, there are specifics to where they can be placed indoors in a multi-storey building, independent of the number of floors for parking.
Here, the installation of DC chargers are permitted only on the ground and the first two upper levels of parking, and for basement parking, only on the first level below ground. This is to satisfy fire safety requirements, in line with Bomba’s guidelines for EV charging station installations unveiled a few months ago.
The document also states that EVCBs must be situated away from stairs or emergency exits so that they do not obstruct exit routes in case of an emergency, and lists a size requirement for bays built in new developments, needing to be 2.5 metres wide and six metres long, adding a metre in width for a disabled-friendly charging bay.
Additionally, for new multi-storey residential and commercial developments, the guidelines state that a minimum of 2% of the total parking space must be allocated as EVCBs. For residential developments, a minimum of one EVCB must be placed in visitor parking, while for commercial developments a minimum of one EVCB has to be disabled-friendly.
A minimum of one electric motorcycle charging bay per building is also required for new developments, both residential and commercial. As for existing developments, the guidelines only state that the number of EVCBs should be based on demand, and by the sound of it, there is no requirement for any party to comply with that suggestion.
The document also lists the timeframe for application and approval process (seven days for AC, 14 days for DC), as well as the procedural steps required for EVCB installations, from application to installation. You can download the GPP EVCB document here.
What do you think of the guidelines as stated in the document? Does it cover most of the bases? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Reading the new guideline, the only viable way to charge your BEV is if you have a landed home with 3 phase power supply.
Very big problem for any condo car park with a charging point where the owner themselves install their own charging point. Some issues I foresee:-
1) 15m max distance from the electrical isolation switch. 15m is very short, should extend further or to area with fireman switch/fire call point/hose reel. Also if the whole car park is filled with charging points as the majority of owners install their own charging point how? Later majority of residence upgrade to taycan, BMW I series, Merc CQS, Tesla, Ioniq, BYD (like what our PMX wants) all sure want their own charging ports. The 15m will overlap with each other.
2) setback from other type of car park (like I got 2 parking bays, I drive a BEV and park in my lot with a charging point, my other car is ICE. Then my neighbor lot also BEV with his own charging point and ICE, my other neighbor is both ICE)
3) Need smoke detector to main fire alarm panel for charging place if no sprinkler provided. Big cost to management
4) Charging bays need bigger car park! Then all the current condo and apartment car park how?!?!
Going to cause big headache for new projects that are under construction! Those in condo and apartment will have big problem too!
Better stick to ICE car if live in condo at this rate. Later have to fight and queue for the charging port.
You’re 80% there to waking up to the EV and green scam. Logistical headaches and fire code (???!!! Lol ever had to look at fire code in any of your prior years driving a normal car?) aside, here’s a few more relevant points:
Charging your battery comes from the electricity grid which comes from coal in most countries
Currently the electricity grid can’t even handle normal consumption in Malaysia without facing regular blackouts or poor power quality (particularly outside of the big cities like KL and Penang). See how even the street lights on large public roads like EDL in JB flicker like crazy
None of the “renewables” like solar and wind power (both are also scams btw, their “green energy” factor is easily offset by the amount of pollution they generate during manufacturing and the waste they generate… they don’t last and the environment benefit is actually NEGATIVE) can scale to support 50% of the population, let alone the entire population, driving EV only.
They could burn more coal/diesel or even better deploy nuclear power to scale up electricity supply but that would never fly because that’s not “green”.
So how? How about now capping the number of cars that people own? With ICE vehicles banned or heavily taxed by that time, now introduce heavy taxes on EV cars too. Pump up electricity pricing so people can’t afford to use their cars all the time (like how Grab pumped up their prices after establishing a monopoly. The play is the same – artificial, loss incurring pricing to takeover majority market share and then do a U turn and jack up pricing sky high once you have market share dominance)
BN, PN, PH, MUDA, PAS, blah blah blah. Why are we all debating which puppets are bad and ignoring the puppetmasters that run multiple countries and rapidly expanding their reach. The people you NEVER voted for are imposing their rules onto you – the World Economic Forum (WEF). Yup, the same fkers who have been telling us “you will own nothing and be happy”
Meaning even in strata building I can install AC charger at my own parking lot? But building management still sleeping, how?
If you find it too troublesome to drive an EV AND stay in an apartment/condo, then continue driving an ICE or get a HEV instead (if you can’t get a landed property). there are still other options, stop whining.
Just because they live in condos, they aren’t allowed to drive BEVs? That’s not fair.
Yes, continue complaining until the building mgmt does the right thing by allowing EV charger installations.